Method of and apparatus for developing films



Nov.I 17,1925.` y 1,561,953

- E'. J. lSWEETIJND IBTHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DEVELOPING FILES A FiledNov. 15. 1919 5 A TTORNEY Nov'. 17., 1925'. g l1,561,953 J. SWEETLANDMETHOD 0I' AID Al-PARATUS FOR DEVELOPING FILIS f Filed Nov. 15. 1919 5Sheretsheet 2 4?' 44 A TTORNEY Nw. 17,' v1925. I

x A. 1,561,953 E. J.-SVVEETLAND Ilm-Ion oF Anm APPARATUS Fon DEVELOPINGxmms FiledNov. 15, 1919 5 Shees-Sheet 3 A A, l A 4.111111111111111/111Nov. 17,1925. y 1,561,953 E. J. swEETLANo IBTHOD 0F AND APPARA'US FORDEVELOPING FILMS meauov; 1s. l191s) s sheets-suela: 4

mamy

Patented Nov. -17, 1925.

UNI-TED STATES ERNEST J. SWEETLAND, or MoN'TcLAIE, NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OE lAND APPARATUS FOB DEVELOPIG FILMS.

strips of film, such as arey usually supplied upon rolls for use 'withhand cameras.v

The objects of the invention are to pro vide a film developing apparatusfor meehanically moving the film through the developingsolutions orcausing the solution to flow over the-film; to -provide novel means forlthe mechanical manipulation of f ilm developing devices, such asdescribed in my United States Patent No. 1,285,462; dated Nov. 19, 1918tosecure' means for develo ing large nlunbers of strips of film in rapidA succession; lto provide means for ensuring the thorough treatment' ofthe -film by the .developing solutions; to ensure against under oroverdeveloping'of the film byprovision of mechanical means, whereby thefilm is subjected to treatment for predeter- `mined periods of time; tosecure means for producmg the successive treatment of the film to thevarious solutions and. to mechanieally transfer samev from oney solutionto another; to provide means for removing the lilm from the apparatuswhenV completely developed; to secure the proper agitation of thesolutions over the film; and to attain other objects and results asmaybe brought out by the 'followingl description. Referring to theaccompanying drawings,

in which like numerals of reference indicate theysame parts throughoutthe several views:

Figure 1 is a yside elevation of a filmadeveloping apparatus showing oneembodiment of my invention adapted for daylight developing with devicessuch as'I shown vin my before-mentioned Patent No.- 1,285,462;

portions-'being shown in section;

Figure 4 1s a front lelevatlon ofthe ap- 55 Applicatonled November 15",1919. -Serial No. 338,268.

Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof; F lgure 3 1s a View similar toFigure 1, showing a dark room developing apparatus,

paratus 'shown by Figure 3,;

Figure 5'is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through anotherembodiment of my invention;

Figure 6 is an end elevation thereof; y' 60 Figure 7 is a perspectiveView of the film enveloping device or bag used in connection with theapparatus shown by Figure 1;'

Figure 8 is van enlarged plan View of the film attaching means shown byFigure 3; y :Figure 9v is an enlarged side elevation of the filmattaching or hold ing device used in connection 'with the apparatusshown by Figures 5 and 6; and

Figure 10 is a plan viewv of one end 70- thereof.

Specifically describing the embodiment of the invention illustrated byFigures 1, 2 and 7, the numerals 1 designate a pair of spaced endstandards or uprights which are formed in lower and upper sections 2 and3, respectively, pivotally connected at 5 by a horizontal shaft 6extending between the standards 1. Rigid with the upper sections 3 andsupported thereby is a bed or table,7

upon which is mounted the film-carrying belt 8 extending around rollerpulleys 9 and 10 mounted on dshafts y11 and 12, respectively, which arejournaled in brackets 13 and 14, the said shafts extending transverselyof the 'table 7 at the ends thereof. The shaft 12 is adjustable in thebracket 14 in a conventional manner to take up slack in the belt 8.Arranged between said belt roller pulleys 9 and 10, and under the up- 90'per reach of the belt area series of-transversely extending supportingrollers 8a journaled in frames 8b mounted on the table 7, said rollerssupporting the intermediate portions of the belt between the pulleys.

Thedrive 'shaft 6 carries a wormA wheel 15 which meshes with a worm-17on the shaft of'a conventional inotor `18 so that the shaft 6 is rotatedby the motor 18. One end of the drive 'shaft 6' is provided withafrigidly 100 connected crank arm 19 pivotallyv connected to one end ofa link 20, the other end of which is pivotally connected, as at 2l, tothe end of the table 7, the said pivotal connec- 6 tion being adjustablein various openingsA 22 to vary the leverage of the link 20. Ob-

i viously, as the drive shaft 6 rotates, the table 7 is oscillated aboutthe pivotal Yconnections of the standards 1. A belt pulley 23 10 is alsofixed on the drive shaft 6 and is connected by a belt 24 to a pulley 25mounted on a countershaft 26, journaled in brackets 27 depending fromthe table 7 the said countershaft also carrying a worm 28 meshl5 ing aworm wheel 29 on a stub shaft 30 journaled in a bracket 31 on the table7. This stub shaft is provided with a sprocket 32 connected by a chain33 to a sprocket 34 mounted on one end of the roller shaft 11.

lIt will thus be seen that the film carrying belt 8 is also actuatedover the rollers 9 and 10 by the motor 18. The belt 8 is adapted toreceive the films to be developed, the film being first laced in aflexible bag 35 l(see Figure 7 as escribed in my United States Patent No. 1,285,462. One end of the film 36 is secured by a clip 37 in the bag35 -and the film unrolled or laid fiat in the bag, after which the'developing solution is poured into the bag and the free end thereofturned over and'fastened externally by a clip 38, which holds the filmextended. Assuming the belt 8 to be traveling in the direction indicatedby the arrows,` the bag 35 is then laid upon the upper reachy of thebelt 8, as shown by Figure 1, over the pulley 10. As the bag is beingcarried by.

the belt toward its other end, the table is being simultaneouslyoscillated by' the crank arm 19 and link 20, so that the developingsolution is constantly agitated over the film from one end of the bag tothe other. The

` belt 8 is preferably sufhciently long so that .by the time the bag 35reaches the pulley 9, the film has been sufficiently treated by thesolution. 'The bag is then removed from the belt, the develop-ingsolution poured out of the b and then the Washing, fixing'and final wasing operations can be performed identically as described in connectionwith the developing solution. Obviously, the bags 35 lcan besuccessively applied to and removed from -the belt. 8 so as toconstitute 5 a continuous process, it being possible to 5 develop largenumbers of films in `rapid succession. In case only one film is placedon the belt, the clip 38 can be provided With an extending finger 39 toengage an electric circuit closing device 40 at the finish end of thebelt, and said circuit closer Acan be connected in a conventional Way toa suitable alarm to warn the operator of the completion of thedeveloping operation, so as to prevent over developing.v With thisapparatus, the tiresome manual manipula-A or container 41 to receive thedeveloping solution, and the shafts 11a and 12a are pro- 75 vided Withsprockets 42, and arranged Within vthe pan 41over which sprockets arearranged spaced 4and parallel chains 43, which take the place of thebelt 8. These chains 43 are provided with oppositely arranged spacedhooks 44 between which the films are sus-- pended. In the use of thisform of the invention, the film 45l is 'x stretched between clips 46 and47 (see Figure 8), one of said clips in the present instance, 46, beingpro- 55 vided ,with an extension 48 having an opening 49 to receive oneof the hooks 44 on chains 43, while the other clip 47 has conncctedthereto one end of'a spring 47a, the opposite end of which isprovidedwith an eye 50 to fit over another of thehooks 44 on theopposite chain 43, as shown by Figure 3. In developing, the films arestretched between the chains 43 at one end thereof, the springs 47akeeping them flat and straight, and as the chains are 'driven the filmsare drawn edgewise through the developing solution,'which is agitatedlongitudinally over the films by oscillation 'of the table 7, as abovedescribed. The construction of this form of the invention is otherwiseidentical With'that shown by Figures 1 and 2, and it is though-tunnecessary to repeat the description thereof.

In both forms of the invention above described, it is necessary toeither pour off the various solutions as they are 'used and supplythe'next successive solution, or provide a number of machines, one foreach solution. This necessity is obviatcd by the construction shown byFigures 5, 6, 9 and 10. This construction comprises the standards 1,and, oscillating table 7 exactlyas above described and driving mechanismtherefor, as shown by Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, further description ofwhich is unnecessary. Supported by the table 7 is a container 51, saidcontainer being divided into compartments by transverse partitions 52,each compartment boing adapted to receive a differentF solution, as forinstance, the compartment 53 would contain the developing solutioncompartment 54, the first wash Water; compartment 55, the fixingsolution, and compartment 56, the final Washing' Water. The strips offilm are drawn successiveiythrough these solutions by means of endlesschains 57 driven from the motor `18. A pulley 58 is fixed to the driveshaft 6 and is connected by a belt 59 to a belt pulley 60 on a counter-`63 also suspended from the table 6." This shaft 61 suspended from thetable 6, said countershaft carrying a worm 61,I meshing with a wormwheel 62 on a sub-countershaft sub-countershaft is provided with asprocket 64 connected to a sprocket 65 on a stubshaft 66 by means of-achain 67. A mutilated gear 68 is keyed te the--stub-shaft 66 and mesheswith a pinion 68 on a short shaftl 69, which shaft is provided with agear 70 meshing with a pinlon 71 on one end of one film chain shaft 72arranged transversely of the container 51 adjacentone end thereof. Arectangular frame 73 is arranged vertically upon the table 6 over thecontainer 51, said frame supporting a plurality of idler sprockets 74aon opposite sides thereof *over which pass lthe pair of spaced andparallel film carrying chains 57, said chains being driven from thesprocket 74 on the film chain shaft 72 before-mentioned.

The chains v57 are provided with `spaced and oppositely disposed hooks75 and normally travel in the direction of the 4arrow on Figure 5, andthe operatorstandingat the front of the machine beside a suitable standor table 76 upon which the rolls 77 of films may be placed. The filmsare unrolled and the ends thereof fastened between a pair of similarlyformedclips 78, which are provided with eyes 79 to fit over the hooks 75on the chains (see Figures 9 and 10). The

,. ments of the container 51 are films are then stretched between thechains 57 and the eyes 7 9 on the clips slipped on the hooks 75, asshown by Figure 6. The chains then carry the films successively throughthe solutions'in the container 51. The compartp-referably sufficientlylarge that one passage of the films through each completes thedeveloping thereof, and the chains arek driven with an intermittentmotion by means of the mutilated gear 68v to allow longer periods oftime in each solution, and also to allow the operator to easily attachthe films to the chain hooks, the stopping of the chains allowing-ksufficient time for this operation. The in-4 termittent movement of thechain and the film, which is carried thereby through the solutions,constitutes one of the important features of my invention. Obviously thestoppage oftheir travel not only facilitates the placing of the filmsinthe machines but it also lends itselflargely toward the efficiency ofprocess of treatment of the film. For instance, the time of thetreatment of the film by the respective solutions may be controlled andregulated, so that maximum speed can be maintained in order that themachine can be utilized to greatest .advantage. Furthermore, it isdesirable to have thel speed of" motion such that the film after beingproperly developed in compartmentS 53 will pass entirely through thecompartment 54, in which the film is washed of all 92 from any suitablesource of developing liquid before passing into the fixing solution incompartment 55. This 1s made possible by the intermittenty mechanismheretofore described.

The arrangements may be such that the motion distance of travel of thefilm during the intermittent motion will cause the film to pass from thedeveloping compartment 53 into each of the solutions they are carried tothe 4 upper reaches of the. chains andthrough a drying chamber 80arranged at thetop of the frame'73. At the rear end of this dryingchamber is arranged a blower fan 81 which forces a current of airthroughthe drying chamber over a heating coil 82. When the films reach thefront end of the upper reaches of the chains 57 they are thoroughlydeveloped and dried, and are ready for removal from the chains. Thiscanbe accomplished manually or automatically. For automatically removingthe films fromthe chains, a pair of vertical rods 83 are arranged on asuitable support 84 at the front of the machine,.the upper ends of saidrods beinfr offset toward the chains and arranged in alinement withopenings 85 in ears 86l projecting from the clips 78. As the .ears 86approachthe rods' 83, the openings in the ears slip over the ends of therods, and downward movementof the chains then draws the hooks 75 on thechains from' the eyes 79 fon theclips. The films and clilps then slipdownwardly by gravity on tie rods 83 to the support 84, from where theylcan be removed by the operator.

If desired, a brush 87 can be arranged in the compartment 53 to brushthe solution over the films so as to remove any air bells or foreignmatter that may have adhered to the film and to ensure proper treatmentof the films thereby. The brush, in the present instance, is shown aspivotally mounted at its ends by links- 88 on brackets 89 projectinginwardly from the frame, andis adapted to reciprocate transversely ofthe container 5l or longitudinally of the films with a brushing action,by any suitable means such as the connecting rod ecce'ntricallyconnected to a disc 91 driven by abelt wer.

It .will be understood that the films are drawn successively through thesolutions in the compartments by the chains 57 passing over the idlersprockets 7 4, and driven from the motor 18. Simultaneously with their.130

passage through the solutions, the films are thoroughly washed andtreated therewith by agitation 'of' the solutions by oscillation ofl thetable 7 and container 51. Thus, this form of my apparatus is adapted tocarry an exposed film completely through a developing process to itsdrying, and it iS obvious that a large number of films can be passedthrough the apparatus at the same time in rapid succession. In all theforms of' the invention, the fundamental idea is to eliminate the manualmanipulation of films in tbe developing process by mechanical meanswhich simulate the manual nio-tions and steps incident to a developingprocess., The solutions are mechanically moved over the films so as toinsure thorough treatment, and

the apparatus is constructed so as'to continue the treatment through theproper periods of' time. All the operations-that are necessary f'or theoperator to perform are the insertion and the removal of the films fromthe apparatus.

Obviously many detail modifications and changes can be made in theconstruction of my apparatus without departing from the spirit andsco-pe of the invention, and

I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself except as requiredby the following claims when construed prior art.

Having thus described my invention what I claim' as new herein anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a film developing apparatus, the combination of a receptacle toreceive film treating solution, means for holding a strip of filmunrolled in position to'be immersed in'said solution` means formaintaining said solution in motionfwhile the film is immersed therein,and means for moving said film transversely to its length simultaneouslywith said motion of the solution.,

2. AIn film developing apparatus, the combination of a receptacley toreceive a film treating solution, means for immersing a film in saidsolution, and means for bodily moving said film edgewise, said movingmeans regulating the period of immersion of the film. k

3. In film developing apparatus, the combination of a receptacle toreceive a film treating solution, means. for moving saidreceptacle, andmeans for immersing a film edgewise in said solution in the receptaclewhile said receptacle is in motion.

4. In. film developing apparatus, the combination of a receptacle toreceive film .treating solution, means for immersing a film in 'saidsolution and means for moving said film a predetermined distanceedgewise while so immersed, the movement of said film over saiddistanceconsuming a period of time necessary for treatment of the filmin said solution.

in the light of the 5. 'In film developing apparatus, the Combination ofa receptacle to receive film treating solution, means for maintainingsaid receptacle' -in motion to agitate the solution, and means formoving a film edgewise through said solution while the same is agitated.

6. In film developing apparatus, the combina-tion of a receptacle toreceive film treating solution, a pair of spaced conveyor membersmovable through said solution,

and means for supporting a strip of film between said members for movingthe film through said solution.

7. ln film ldeveloping apparatus, the combination of' a receptacle toreceive film' treating solution, a pair of spaced conveyor membersmovable into and out of' said solution, means for regulating the periodof their movement in said solution, and means for supporting a strip offilm between said members. f

8. In film developing apparatus, the combination of a receptacle toreceive film treating solution, a pair of spaced endless members, aportion of each of which passes through said solution, and means forsupporting a strip of film between said members.

9. In film developing apparatus, the combination of a receptacle toreceive" film treating solution` means for maintaining said receptaclein motion to agitate the solution, a pair of spaced members movablethrough said liquid and rigidly supported with respect to saidreceptacle, and means for conand means for actuating said film carryingmechanism with an intermittent motion.

l2. In film developing apparatus, the combination of a plurality ofreceptacles, each adapted to contain a different film treating solution,and means for moving strips of film successively edgewise through saidvreceptacles, the length of travel of the film through each receptacleconsuming a period of time sufficient for proper treatment of the filmby the solution in that receptacle. p

13. In film developing apparatus, the combination of a receptacle toreceive film treating solution and strips 4of film in parallel relation,of means for moving the strips of film through the solution in adirection transverse to their length, brush means adapted t0 engage thesurface of the films Aand mea-ns for imparting'oscillatinfr movement tohe brush means in a direction, parallel to t e film. i

14. The method `of filmV development which consists in arranging aplurality` of strips of film in parallel relationand passing themthrough il'm treating solutions always in. a direction transverse totheir length.

15. The method of lm j development which consists in arranging aplurality of strips of lm in parallel relation and passing them throughfilm treating solution with.

a stepv-by-stepV or intermittent motio'n transversely to their length.

ERNEsT J; SWEETLAND. y

